Hi I am new and would appreciate some help with a Nervous Staffy

[Elsablue]

We have rehomed a 3 year old female staffy 2 weeks ago from a family that did not have time to dedicate to her, she was brought up with children and other dogs. She is excellent in the home and is great with the kids. She is the only dog we have and has lots of love and affection, however she does not seem to know how to 'play' we have lots of toys, balls, pull things etc and she ignores them all, so I think that the previous owners just let the dogs play amongst themselves.

We have had a problem walking her when approached by other dogs, she seems very unpredictable in snapping, sometimes she will let a dog sniff and she wags her tail but then suddenly will try to bite them. Other times she has instantly snapped at a dog as it approaches. I have spoken to her previous owner who has said that they have not had a problem with her snapping before but they used to walk all the dogs together so they were in a pack and not many other dogs approached them.

The last couple of days however she has been refusing to go out for a walk, just digging her heels in not moving, then jumping at every sound around. I don't want to give up on her so she is housebound, but also don't want to scare her so much she gets worse from fearing other dogs to fearing going out altogether and snapping at one of us for making her go through fear.

Any suggestions with either of these problems would be appreciated as she is a lovely dog

[nick_j007]

Originally Posted by Elsablue

We have rehomed a 3 year old female staffy 2 weeks ago from a family that did not have time to dedicate to her, she was brought up with children and other dogs. She is excellent in the home and is great with the kids. She is the only dog we have and has lots of love and affection, however she does not seem to know how to 'play' we have lots of toys, balls, pull things etc and she ignores them all, so I think that the previous owners just let the dogs play amongst themselves.

We have had a problem walking her when approached by other dogs, she seems very unpredictable in snapping, sometimes she will let a dog sniff and she wags her tail but then suddenly will try to bite them. Other times she has instantly snapped at a dog as it approaches. I have spoken to her previous owner who has said that they have not had a problem with her snapping before but they used to walk all the dogs together so they were in a pack and not many other dogs approached them.

The last couple of days however she has been refusing to go out for a walk, just digging her heels in not moving, then jumping at every sound around. I don't want to give up on her so she is housebound, but also don't want to scare her so much she gets worse from fearing other dogs to fearing going out altogether and snapping at one of us for making her go through fear.

Any suggestions with either of these problems would be appreciated as she is a lovely dog

Hi. 2 weeks is your honeymoon period with most 'rescue' dogs, and then you'll be seeing the dogs true colours that the other owner was seeing no doubt.

Your dog is clearly anxious/nervous and this requires a balanced approach from you as an owner and family. Avoid pandering to her every need with an endless flow of love and affection. Love and affection is good of course, but that needs to be balanced off with some rules and boundaries in the home and outside.

Without the pack of other dogs her confidence will be less, and as you say other dogs would probably avoid entering a large group of dogs anyway.

Introduce a good calming herbal remedy such as scullcap & valerian from Dorwest.com and give as per instructed. I get good feed back from this product.

Getting her out. Hmmm. I'm not a fan of dragging dogs into situations they can't cope with, but in this case you can't just keep her in, as you'll quickly go backwards. Use a well fitted collar and lead and walk her out the door in a no nonsense way. Stay calm and relaxed yourself and avoid lots of people all offering masses of encouragement (try not to make a big deal of it basically).

A good plan for the next couple of weeks is to move her onto a brand called Nature Diet. Most dogs love this pate style food and it's very healthy. Assuming your dog might need about 1-2 packs per day, keep it chiiled as it cuts better, then slice it into chunks and into a bag ready for you to feed the dog. During these 2 weeks you don't offer any of the food allowance each day 'free of charge' via her food bowl. She has to work for all of it. So she is then rewarded gebnerously for making strides going outside, and then also reward her for calm behaviour when looking at other dogs and so on. Also use the food for training sessions in and out of the home.

Ideally find a local trainer that can offer guidance 1-2-1 with you and your dog. A decent class may also be able to assist you here, but they are not all equal and some will positively not like a noisy, snappy dog. If your dog does not ciope in classes then stop and go the 1-2-1 route as suggested above.

Best of luck, let us know how it goes eh?

Nick

[Elsablue]

The help was appreciated, Elsa is coming on well, she seems to have gotten over her 'not going out stage' we persevered and carried out taking her out. When she stopped and dug her heels in not moving we just stood there and waited until she had relaxed again and then carried on walking as if to say we are still going when you are ready! This seems to have stopped that. I will be changing her diet as she is on Bakers at the moment but she is still not eating 'properly'. We take her to training which is getting her used to dogs coming near her but she is still temperamental when out walking. I am going to speak to the trainers to see if they can do a one to one session with us out walking as they live locally.

Thanks again Trina

[nick_j007]

Originally Posted by Elsablue

The help was appreciated, Elsa is coming on well, she seems to have gotten over her 'not going out stage' we persevered and carried out taking her out. When she stopped and dug her heels in not moving we just stood there and waited until she had relaxed again and then carried on walking as if to say we are still going when you are ready! This seems to have stopped that. I will be changing her diet as she is on Bakers at the moment but she is still not eating 'properly'. We take her to training which is getting her used to dogs coming near her but she is still temperamental when out walking. I am going to speak to the trainers to see if they can do a one to one session with us out walking as they live locally.

Thanks again Trina

Well done! I like your stlye re the getting out of the house...that sounds perfect.

Bakers is awful so stop that ASAP please. See my thoughts and feelings on diet here: Diet and nutrition for dogs

Use the Nature Diet approach I sugested...it works wonders on dogs that just need extra support. Hey, we all need food when we're anxious right ?

Well done. keep it up there!

Nick